Learned Responses in a Vehicle
Driving has been described as a complex behavior that requires the extraction and integration of information from multiple sources so as to produce safe driving practices and efficient vehicle control.
Much of this information is processed visually by the driver, such as noticing a stop sign or a child walking on the road, which would normally result in the behavior of slowing down. Some of this information is audible, such as the ringing of a mobile telephone, which often results in answering a phone call, or the reminder alarm of an unfastened seat belt, which results in the individual securing the belt in place. Other information is tactile in nature, such as sensing a hot vehicle, which may result in opening the window or activating the air conditioning system.
Drivers often learn to adapt to various stimuli by responding in an appropriate manner. If for example the radio volume is loud and a mobile phone rings, one reaction is to turn down the volume. Over time, this learned behavior can become second nature to the driver such that minimal effort or thought is exerted in order to respond appropriately to the stimuli.
Drivers and other vehicular occupants learn to respond appropriately to various stimuli while in the vehicle, such that when a similar stimulus is encountered on subsequent occasions, the person responds in a manner which is consistent with the desired outcome. After a few experiences with similar stimuli, there is little or no concentrated thought deliberately exerted by the person since the person is now “trained” to respond in the appropriate manner.
One example is the action of turning right by the driver. Prior to the turn, the driver typically slows down, actuates the turn signal, stops (if required), ensures a right turn can be safely made and is in accordance with the law, then accelerates while turning the steering wheel to the right. Having practiced turning on a few occasions, most drivers do not focus on the steps of turning since the learned response of turning right in a vehicle has become second nature.
Driving Distractions
Studies have shown that a change to the driver's visual, audible or tactile behavior could have a significant impact on vehicle safety. Miura (1990, “Active function and useful field of view in a realistic setting,” in From Eye to Mind. Information Acquisition in Perception, Search and Reading. Amsterdam: North-Holland), for example, demonstrated that visual search patterns may be influenced by environmental complexity, such as the road scene.
With respect to the detrimental effects resulting from the experience of strong emotions, Janelle, Singer and Williams (1999, External distraction and attentional narrowing: Visual search evidence,” Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 21: 70-91) demonstrated in an auto racing simulation study, that at higher levels of anxiety, the identification of lights in the periphery became slower and less accurate.
When demanding cognitive tasks are carried out during driving, Parkes and Hooijmeiher (2000, “The influence of the use of mobile phones on driver situation awareness,” Internet forum on driver distraction hosted by US DOT NHTSA, www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/departments/nrd-13/driver-distraction/PDF/2.PDF) noted that drivers tend to react more slowly when an unexpected event occurs during a phone conversation, which was attributed to a reduction in situation awareness due to the high level of concentration required during the conversation.
As these and other studies show, vehicle drivers are challenged more and more to remain focused on safety and safe driving. Numerous devices in the vehicle, such as mobile phones, text messaging, electronic and traditional map reading and audio visual devices contribute to diverting the driver's attention from the road to the device.
In addition to distractions caused by in-vehicle devices, drivers often use their time while driving to mentally analyze, organize and prepare their day. Such mental processing can distract the driver from concentrating on road and vehicle safety.
Forgotten Passengers or Objects
Once drivers reach their destination or exit the vehicle, there is a danger that the various distractions during the drive may cause the driver to forget important information such as who or what is in the vehicle. Even if a driver is concentrating on road safety during the drive, it is possible that the driver forgets this type of important information when the vehicle reaches its destination. These otherwise forgotten people or objects are typically children in safety seats, but they also may be sleeping individuals, the elderly, pets, plants, valuable or perishable objects or inanimate objects that should not remain in the vehicle after the driver and other occupants exit. Every year, children who are secured in child safety seats are left in vehicles, usually inadvertently, by busy, distracted drivers and other vehicular occupants.
The Children's Exercise and Nutrition Centre at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada conducted a recent study on internal vehicle temperatures and the danger to children. Within twenty minutes, the air temperature in a previously air-conditioned small car exposed to the sun on a 35° C. day (95° F.) was found to exceed 50° C. (122° F.). Within forty minutes, the temperature increased to 65.5° C. (150° F.). Citing this research, the Canada Safety Council (www.safety-council.org/info/child/hotcar.html) has advised that, in the confined space of a car, temperatures can climb so rapidly that they overwhelm a child's ability to regulate his or her internal temperature.
Too often children and adults are distracted when they are in a vehicle and therefore tend to forget or ignore important safety concerns. Numerous reminder devices in vehicles have been developed primarily to ensure that vehicular occupants are safe. Such devices are meant to remind children and adults alike. In this manner, the frequent use of these reminder devices has been associated with changed behaviors as they cause the user to adopt safe practices while in the vehicle.
Certain patents disclose devices that encourage or remind children to attach a child restraint device, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,973,106; 5,656,994; 6,409,271 and 6,750,764. The inventions disclosed therein encourage the children to fasten their seatbelt with the use of toy teaching aids.
Other patents disclose devices that remind the driver or passengers that a child is located in a child safety seat, which is typically situated in the back seat of the vehicle, outside the driver's primary field of vision. Such patents include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,949,340; 6,909,365; 7,097,226 and 7,151,452. These sensing devices are complex to manufacture and rely on multiple electronic components, such as load sensors, and one or more controller during operation. In addition, these types of devices sense the occupant in the seat and sound an alarm when a condition is triggered, such as the ignition stopping.
Simple tools have been disclosed in the prior art with the goal of jogging the memory of drivers regarding the presence of a child located in the vehicle. The use of a ribbon or piece of wool attached to the vehicle steering wheel, mirror or vehicle door, for example, is neither reliable, nor specific enough to consistently trigger the desired memory. Given the everyday use of such simple reminder tools, their use as reminder devices in a vehicle can be easily misinterpreted and the association with the desired memory does not necessarily occur. These simple tools are prone to malfunction for their intended purpose and therefore fail to remind the occupant that someone or something is present in the vehicle. Furthermore, the size and shape of these prior art tools is not easily associated with the memory of a person or thing in the backseat or other location in a vehicle not within the driver's field of vision or immediate access.
Another device of the prior art which has the intent of jogging the driver's memory is the Baby Bee Safe™ device from OLGS, LLC of Sapulpa, Okla., USA. This device is described as a large tag with a clip which is to be attached to the driver's key ring or to a person after the child is placed in a safety seat. When the ignition is turned off, the keys are retrieved from the ignition. The driver then sees and feels the device which triggers the memory to retrieve a child from the safety seat. For instances when the device is attached to an individual, the person should notice the tag upon exiting the vehicle, which then triggers the memory. The device as disclosed will not work if the key ring is not removed from the vehicle or if the user does not notice or feel the device. Keys on a key ring are often left in the vehicle's ignition in rural areas or in secured garages after the ignition is turned off. Many drivers also leave the ignition running, and then exit the vehicle, such as to make a quick trip to a convenience store. In addition, an individual may not notice the device is attached to the wearer's clothes, such as during the cold season when clothes tend to be more bulky. In these and other circumstances, the device will fail to remind the driver that a child is in the vehicle.
Given the many distractions that drivers and other vehicular occupants face during a typical drive, there remains a need for an effective, simple device that will elicit a specific behavioral response in the occupant by reminding the occupant that someone or something is located in the vehicle. Such a device must not distract a vehicular occupant during the operation of the vehicle or require a connection to sense whether the person or object is in the vehicle. Furthermore, such a device must always be noticed by the occupant when the occupant exits the vehicle.